


Things Are Okay

by AwakeAt2AM



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 01:09:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1570388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAt2AM/pseuds/AwakeAt2AM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riku would rather be awake and grumpy than asleep and having nightmares, but Kairi does her best to reassure him that everything is alright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Are Okay

When the redhead wakes up it’s because of a familiar tug at her heart. The same tug that tells her where the boys are, when the boys are, and how they’re doing. She’d call it a maternal instinct if she was older, but it was different. All three of them were connected so deeply that they defied all labels. That’s why the three of them were able to sleep in the same bed without anyone raising an eyebrow.  


This kind of feeling always kicks in when something isn't right. Kairi doesn't always know what's going on, just that something is troubling one of her best friends and that she needs to do something about it.

Sure enough, the freshly-minted master is awake and running his hands through his hair. Kairi props herself up on her elbows, listening. Grumbles meant he was too angry to sleep, groans were restlessness, and silence meant he didn’t want to sleep for whatever reason. He needed it but didn’t want it. Whatever he saw on the backs of his eyelids made him more content to be awake during the night (and much grumpier during the day).  


Silence again.  


Riku hasn’t noticed Kairi wake yet, and probably wouldn’t unless she did something. Kairi frowns. For someone so attentive to his friends, he sure could get wrapped up in his own negativity fast. Kairi decides that tonight (like every other night she caught him up like this) she’s not going to let him face this alone. They’ve come too far for that.  
She sits up, wraps her arms around him, and leans her head on his shoulder. His hair is soft. Her voice is softer. “Hey.”  


Her whisper may as well have been a shout for all the surprise that runs straight through Riku. “Kairi.”  


“That’s my name.” Kairi says, a soft smile spreading on her lips. There were two ways he’d respond. One was with a little laugh which meant everything was okay. Another was just more silence, which meant Kairi would have to do some digging to figure out what was wrong and try to fix it.  


Riku takes a third option, though. He doesn’t look at her, but she knows he’s aware of her because he leans back slightly into her embrace. “Did I wake you?”  


Kairi’s reply is short and sweet. “Nope.”  


There’s more silence. There’s no fear or tension in his posture now. No anger. No sadness. All that was left was relief. It was over now. Kairi knew the signs.  
The redhead breaks the silence again. “Nightmares?”  


Riku sits up now, leaning forward and away. His reaction is always an embarrassed one whenever Kairi (or Sora, on the rare occasion he didn’t sleep like a log) brings it up. That never changes. What had changed, though, was him actually admitting to them. That wall had taken a while to tear down. “Yeah.”  


While she is curious, Kairi doesn't ask what the dreams were about. She’d tried that once, and all it got her was a ‘don’t worry about me, go back to sleep’ (which she had no doubt she’d get anyway). After that, she’d decided that she didn’t need to know what or who or where (considering what they all had been through, she figured she already knew). There was only one question that really mattered. She lets go of him temporarily, reaching down to lace her fingers with his. “Are you okay?”  


“Yeah, I’m fine.” Riku is never honest in words with this question, but his actions almost always are. He squeezes her fingers gently, and Kairi can hear a faint smile on his lips. He leans back into her again. That translates to ‘it was really rough but I’m alright now’. “Don’t worr-”  


Kairi sighs. She knew it was coming. “Riku, I’m always going to worry about you.”  


He lets go and shifts, finally looking her in the eyes. His usual level of concern is in them with a good helping of sleeplessness and a dash of guilt. “Kairi…”  


The guilt stings the redhead’s heart, but she refuses to feel too bad about it. She promised herself she’d be honest with her boys whenever she could, and now was no different. “You’re one of my best friends. When you’re upset, so am I. And I know the reverse is true.”  


And Kairi vowed to remind him of this every time he forgot. They had gotten into a fight about it before, but Kairi had come out on top because it wasn’t about mistrust or darkness. It’s perfectly normal to worry over your friends if they get too lost in themselves.  


He has an apologetic smile as he reaches for her hands. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”  


Kairi lets out a cross between a snort and a laugh. She doesn’t know quite what the right word for it is; just that Riku always got a grin on his face when he heard it. “If you say sorry one more time, I swear…”  


And there it is. “I’m sor-” And Kairi reaches for her pillow, pouting determinedly. She’d learned that from Sora. Riku can’t help laughing a little, grabbing her hands before they can make it. 

“Okay, okay, I won’t say it again.”  


“Good.” Kairi hums, feeling proud of herself.  


Sora makes a sound and the pair freeze. He stretches, yawns, and nearly rolls off the bed. Still asleep. It reminds Kairi and Riku that they should both be asleep or at least faking it convincingly. If they woke Sora up, neither of them would be able to get back to sleep. Kairi slinks back down under the covers and motions to Riku.  


He does more than that, though. He reaches out and pulls the redhead into him, burying his face in her hair. She hugs him back, half pleased half annoyed. Riku initiating physical contact was always a good thing in her book, but in this position she couldn’t read his expressions.  


“Don’t go up against anyone alone, okay?” Riku murmurs into her hair. “You’ve gotten a lot better with the keyblade but you’re still-”

So this is what his nightmare was about. “I won’t do anything stupid, I promise.” Kairi rubs little circles in his back, nuzzling into his chest. With the way things have been going she can’t promise him she’ll never fight one on one, but their hearts are connected. She’ll never be alone.

“Promise?” Riku asks again. She can’t tell if his voice is wavering because he’s whispering so softly, and she bets that’s why he’s whispering so low.

“Promise promise. With a tiny baby paopu on top and everything.” She whispers back.

Riku doesn’t say anything. He just holds her tighter and curls slightly around her. He’s taller and bigger than her so it’s a lot of heat, but Kairi doesn’t mind because when Riku finally falls asleep he’s smiling. Success.

Things are okay.


End file.
